Fleecy

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She was huddled up on the steps, so thin you could see every bone in her body. Ants and parasites were swarming all over her, but she had no strength to shake or brush them off. Her eyes, sticky with crusts, were swollen shut: from infection or insect bites, I don’t know.

Barely alive.

She couldn’t have been more than three months old.

We took her inside the office and washed her off as best as we could, and she struggled a bit then, but weakly. The parasites would not come off. She had lost a lot of blood, I noticed. Her color was faded. Laying her down in a warm corner of the office, we tried to feed her, but she was too weak to even lift her head. Fed a small morsel, she chewed at it pitifully, but she was too feeble to take another bite after that. The ticks swarmed over her body, so many I wondered how she could still be alive, how she could have any blood left in her at all.

She would not eat. I decided she needed to be brought to the doctor. Carefully bundling her up — how thin she was! — I went downstairs and hailed a taxi. It took about 10 minutes to get to the clinic. I wondered if she would make it.

So still, so limp, as she was lifted onto the table. She was hardly breathing, her leg giving an occasional twitch. I could see her heart, her tiny heart, a pulsing lump beneath the painfully visible rib cage.

The doctor sighed and told me the best thing would be to put her to sleep. I agreed. She was still breathing. She didn’t even struggle, didn’t even make a sound, when the syringe went into her vein, and the clear violet liquid mixed with what was left of her blood.

It took less than five seconds for her heart, her tiny, tiny heart, to stop.

The doctor sprayed some alcohol, and wrapped the feeble corpse up in newspaper. She would be buried later on, he told me.

Poor, poor kitten. So little blood left in her that even her nose was no longer pink. Parasites crawling through her fur. We knew her only two and a half hours, from 6:30am to 9am, and she was dying the whole time. Tiff and I were glad to be able to do something, even if the only thing that we could do was end it.

We named her Fleecy. Just two and a half hours, but we’ll remember her.

Not President Anymore!

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Former President Erap’s contention that he is still legally the President of the Philippines has been unanimously overruled by the Supreme Court, and a 9-4 vote has removed his immunity from criminal prosecution. He now faces the very likely possibility of arrest for economic plunder. And now, it will be a criminal trial, before a judicial court, not a sentorial jury. Political alliances have less to do now with Erap’s criminal case.

It’s some of the most wonderful news I’ve heard. Erap can’t go on bragging anymore that he’s still president, and now prosecutors can start legally digging into his unexplained wealth, the purchase and construction of properties and mansions for his many mistresses, inside trading in the Philippine Stock Market, and bribes from illegal gambling operations. Of course, he insists that this is all just a conspiracy by the “rich elite” of the country. Ha! From what we’ve seen, he’s richer than most: mansions, limousines, mistresses. The man lives the good life, living high on the hog, spending liberally on almost anything, and he claims to be an advocate for the poor? It’s time to roast this pig.

Adulation from Raffy

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Aaaaww, thanks for the kind words, Raffy. The funny thing is, I’ve always been envious of your wit and writing skills, which, if a bit different from my style are in a uniquely proficient — if informal — class of their own.

Now put that little statue back on its pedestal. :D

You’re watching The Mole? You might want to read this. And this.

Paranoid Little Kitty

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Last night, I met a paranoid little kitten, who, in his panic to get away from me, ran up the stairs and chased himself right into my apartment, and into my room. It took almost an hour of coaxing him out from under my bed to get him out, with many hisses, spits, bites, and claws. The first time I got him, he clawed his way up my neck and jumped off my face. (The wounds are still scratched onto my cheek and neck right now.) The second time I managed to grab him, I took him by the scruff and faced him away from me so he didn’t realize it was a big ugly human holding him. Then, as I carried him out, he took a midair crap and littered the kitchen floor. Stupid, hostile, spiteful little shit. I left him in the area of the trash bin beside the village power generator station, where a bunch of stray cats hold their nightly covens. His mother was there, an affectionate, stub-tailed stray I made friends with a long time ago. I call her Tallis. I have named her bitchy little son Thomas. Because he doubted me.

In other news, I am going to get off this stupid Survivor horse and stop trying to ride the fad, effective immediately. I simply cannot muster up enough interest in a bunch of people with largely abrasive personalities, deliberately thrown together to bicker among themselves and kick each other out of the middle of nowhere, all for a million dollars.

Hey, there was a pretty strong earthquake up in Washington state. Check these Seattle blogs for what’s up after the tremor.

Funniest blog-entry I’ve seen today, from /usr/bin/girl: “Having earthquake. Be back later.“

Chopstick Etiquette

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Know your chopstick manners. (I know I posted a link to something similar before in my archive, but that link is now dead. So here’s a newer, more complete list of every chopstick faux pas imaginable.)

Astring-O-Survivor

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Survivor spoilers? I’m not so sure about it anymore. I can’t seem to find any Survivor episode on AXN’s program guide earlier than Friday, 10pm, which is (correct me if my timezones are wrong) after the Thursday night episode that you Americans enjoy. Well, I shall see. No great loss to me if I can’t watch Survivor. I’ll be fine without it. Juuuust fine…

Anyway, I just tried gargling with Astring-O-Sol Ice, their new ready-to-use mouthwash. It’s funny stuff. It tastes like how a dental clinic smells — which is okay with me; I like that smell. But when I tried gargling it, it was impossible to keep my head tilted back, as the mouthwash began to foam, erupting into an angrily bubbling froth which overflowed from my mouth and spilled down my chin and neck. You can’t gargle decently when your mouthwash acts like washing machine detergent. I’m glad I only got a small bottle. When it’s all done, I’m going back to regular Astring-O-Sol concentrate.

New link to Sharon’s page over there on the left. Hi up there, Sharon! :)

Acetone for Super-Glue

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Mike, for super-glue problems like that, you need acetone. Lots of it.

Something similar happened to me a few weeks ago: while I was trying to repair a broken keychain, my tube of super-glue suddenly burst and spilled fast-setting adhesive all over my right hand. I simply washed and rubbed in acetone till I’d gotten most of it off. It took several hours, and my hands were freezing from the quick evaporation of the chemical. (It’s a bit like formalin.) What didn’t come off was weakened enough by the acetone to get peeled off a few days later. However, some of the glue got permanently bound to my fingernails. To this day, I’m still waiting for a few super-glue bumps to grow off with the nail.

Poor Russ’ “Go Away” mat has been stolen. You may want to consider what we Filipinos use instead: an old rag in front of the door. Works just as well, and it looks just as unfriendly! :P

An FYI link for *******.

Lots of “work”

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I haven’t been blogging at all lately because I’m so exhausted. Lots of work. Actually, that’s a fib: we’ve had hectic days with lots of work, followed by stretches of time filled with nothing. Yesterday was a nothing-day in the office, so I spent the day playing Counterstrike by myself with a bunch of bots, laughing at the ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US Flash movie, and watching Dexter’s Lab and the Powerpuff Girls on Cartoon Network. You know something? Having nothing to do at all is even more tiring than a busy day. I hope this business picks up; the lack of projects is killing our profitability.

Having resolved to spend today being more productive, despite the lack of any projects, I’m now learning how to make multimedia presentations in Authorware. I’m so glad Macromedia includes such excellent tutorials with their applications.